Sunday, July 27, 2008
Summer baseball league
Darcie and I joined a summer city baseball league. One of the girls that Darcie goes to school with started up a team and asked if we'd be interested in playing. We've played about 5 games so far and we've won two of them. We just go to have fun and hang out with the players on our team and don't really care if we win or lose. Its fun sometimes when its not competitive because you don't have to worry if you make a mistake or the other team scores 10 runs in one inning against you because no one cares, they're just there to have fun and play the game. We've played at a lot of different parks throughout the city. Some of them are close to downtown so you'll be playing in a field with the skyscrapers and CN Tower pretty close to you which is neat. Last week we had to end our game early because it started pouring rain and today we had a double header. It was beautiful for the first game but couldn't finish the second one because a thunderstorm rolled in again. Oh well. We play Sunday's and the times range from 5 to 8 pm. We got to play under the lights at one field too. Everyone on the team is really nice and we enjoy hanging out with them. Because most of the players on our team are going to CMCC, our team name is the Bone Crushers. We've all got green shirts with our team name and a cool little logo of a skeleton that's had its bones crushed, laying on the ground. We look good.......and at times we play good too. We've got a few more games and then playoffs start.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Les poissons, les poissons, how I love les poissons........and poutine
Ah Montreal, we had such a great time in Montreal. We left on a Thursday night, June 12th, and landed around 12:30am. We got a really good deal on flights thanks to Sarah notifying me of a seat sale Westjet was having between Montreal, Toronto, and Quebec City. Thanks Sarah!!!! It was cool flying in to Montreal b/c out of my window you could see downtown and on one of the buildings at the top they have really bright lights rotating like a lighthouse. I only realized just before we landed that we were in the province of Quebec and that I'd never been to Quebec before. Darcie hadn't either. We were both looking forward to hearing some french being spoken. We managed to find the shuttle we wanted which took you downtown, which is where our hotel was, called Hotel de Paris. That's Paris Hotel for those of you who require the translation.
While waiting in the shuttle, Darcie and I struck up a conversation with a guy that flew in from St Thomas for business. He lives there year round and is originally from Florida. I told him I'd been there and it was the most beautiful place I'd seen. He was a nice guy - not your stereotypical American. We got to our hotel around 2am. It was a pretty cool place. 100 year old mansion with lots of character. http://www.hotel-montreal.com/ We knew we weren't going to be spending too much time at the hotel so we didn't mind if it wasn't that great but we both liked it. We stayed there Friday and Saturday and had to get up at 4:30 in the morning Sunday to catch our flight back to Toronto. Oh well. For breakfast, we headed to a little bistro that was open in the morning, right underneath the hotel. They made us croissants stuffed with eggs and cheese. The croissants were so fresh and so good. Not hard and flaky.
The first day we decided to check out Mount Royal. A big park on a hill near downtown with a great view of Montreal. When we were done, we headed to an area for lunch we had heard about from a lady I used to work with at Custom Plastics. She's from Montreal so I got in touch with her and she told us about all the places we should check out and where good places to eat were, etc. One of her suggestions for a place to stay while we were there was Hotel de Paris. Anyway, on our way to lunch we were walking on St Catherines street which is just like Robson street in Vancouver or Yonge street in Toronto. Lots of shopping and very busy. We ended up eating at a nice pub and of course had poutine. Poutine there is so good. Much better than A&W's poutine.
After lunch we strolled up St Catherines street the opposite way and made our way to Parc La Fontaine. It's a beautiful park with a fountain at one end of it. We relaxed there for a while, pet lots of dogs, and did a lot of dog watching. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and to get ready for dinner. For dinner, we checked out the restaurants on a popular street called St Denis. We ate on a second level balcony at an Italian style restaurant. After dinner we strolled around a bit, then headed back to the hotel.
The next day, Saturday, we decided we'd check out old Montreal, down on the waterfront. We took the subway there cause we didn't feel like walking the distance. When we boarded the subway, Darcie saw someone she knew from highschool that she graduated with, Megan Stewart. It was so random. We couldn't believe the odds of that happening. They chatted until our stop came. We spent most of the day down there. It was really cool to see so many buildings built in the late 1600's, early 1700's and still being used. Walking around the streets down at the waterfront made you feel like you were in Europe with all the old buildings. We had lunch at the main square and ofcourse had poutine again. There are so many bistros and sidewalk restaurants everywhere. There were so many nice ones, it was hard to choose where to eat for lunch. We watched a street performer for a bit, then headed back to the hotel for a nap. We relaxed at the Fountain park again for a while. Then for dinner, we decided to eat at a restaurant we noticed in Old Montreal that had a really nice atmosphere. There was live jazz, and the outside courtyard had lots of seating with no roof - it was all exposed to the open air but had huge umbrella's covering everyone incase it started to rain. The atmosphere was really nice. Nice lighting and one edge of the courtyard was blocked off from the sidewalk by the old facade of the previous building that used to occupy the space. Food and service was great as well. We really enjoyed it. After dinner we strolled around like everyone else and just relaxed.
At the end of the weekend, our legs, knees, and feet were pretty soar from all the walking we'd done. Sarah, I'm sure you and Leah could relate when you went on that trip together.
While we were there, we spoke English the whole time. Thankfully people in Montreal are forgiving with that and pretty much everyone is fluent in English and French. Not as much in Quebec City I hear though. Darcie picked up on a lot of conversations and would then tell me what people were saying.
All in all, we had a really nice weekend exploring the city of Montreal together.
While waiting in the shuttle, Darcie and I struck up a conversation with a guy that flew in from St Thomas for business. He lives there year round and is originally from Florida. I told him I'd been there and it was the most beautiful place I'd seen. He was a nice guy - not your stereotypical American. We got to our hotel around 2am. It was a pretty cool place. 100 year old mansion with lots of character. http://www.hotel-montreal.com/ We knew we weren't going to be spending too much time at the hotel so we didn't mind if it wasn't that great but we both liked it. We stayed there Friday and Saturday and had to get up at 4:30 in the morning Sunday to catch our flight back to Toronto. Oh well. For breakfast, we headed to a little bistro that was open in the morning, right underneath the hotel. They made us croissants stuffed with eggs and cheese. The croissants were so fresh and so good. Not hard and flaky.
The first day we decided to check out Mount Royal. A big park on a hill near downtown with a great view of Montreal. When we were done, we headed to an area for lunch we had heard about from a lady I used to work with at Custom Plastics. She's from Montreal so I got in touch with her and she told us about all the places we should check out and where good places to eat were, etc. One of her suggestions for a place to stay while we were there was Hotel de Paris. Anyway, on our way to lunch we were walking on St Catherines street which is just like Robson street in Vancouver or Yonge street in Toronto. Lots of shopping and very busy. We ended up eating at a nice pub and of course had poutine. Poutine there is so good. Much better than A&W's poutine.
After lunch we strolled up St Catherines street the opposite way and made our way to Parc La Fontaine. It's a beautiful park with a fountain at one end of it. We relaxed there for a while, pet lots of dogs, and did a lot of dog watching. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and to get ready for dinner. For dinner, we checked out the restaurants on a popular street called St Denis. We ate on a second level balcony at an Italian style restaurant. After dinner we strolled around a bit, then headed back to the hotel.
The next day, Saturday, we decided we'd check out old Montreal, down on the waterfront. We took the subway there cause we didn't feel like walking the distance. When we boarded the subway, Darcie saw someone she knew from highschool that she graduated with, Megan Stewart. It was so random. We couldn't believe the odds of that happening. They chatted until our stop came. We spent most of the day down there. It was really cool to see so many buildings built in the late 1600's, early 1700's and still being used. Walking around the streets down at the waterfront made you feel like you were in Europe with all the old buildings. We had lunch at the main square and ofcourse had poutine again. There are so many bistros and sidewalk restaurants everywhere. There were so many nice ones, it was hard to choose where to eat for lunch. We watched a street performer for a bit, then headed back to the hotel for a nap. We relaxed at the Fountain park again for a while. Then for dinner, we decided to eat at a restaurant we noticed in Old Montreal that had a really nice atmosphere. There was live jazz, and the outside courtyard had lots of seating with no roof - it was all exposed to the open air but had huge umbrella's covering everyone incase it started to rain. The atmosphere was really nice. Nice lighting and one edge of the courtyard was blocked off from the sidewalk by the old facade of the previous building that used to occupy the space. Food and service was great as well. We really enjoyed it. After dinner we strolled around like everyone else and just relaxed.
At the end of the weekend, our legs, knees, and feet were pretty soar from all the walking we'd done. Sarah, I'm sure you and Leah could relate when you went on that trip together.
While we were there, we spoke English the whole time. Thankfully people in Montreal are forgiving with that and pretty much everyone is fluent in English and French. Not as much in Quebec City I hear though. Darcie picked up on a lot of conversations and would then tell me what people were saying.
All in all, we had a really nice weekend exploring the city of Montreal together.
Enjoying some poutine for lunch at a bistro in the main square of Old Montreal
Darcie enjoying some poutine too
Down at the waterfront after dinner Saturday with the main square behind us
The main square in Old Montreal
Monday, July 7, 2008
1 Year Anniversary
On June 23rd, Darcie and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. Its gone by quick. June 23rd fell on a Monday so we celebrated on the 22nd so we could do what we wanted all day and then go out for dinner in the evening instead of having to work on Monday, then go out for dinner. We spent most of Sunday strolling through a couple malls together doing some shopping. Darcie's parents gave Darcie some money to use for buying some nice clothes to celebrate the occasion so she went shopping the day before and found a nice dress for her and a really nice shirt for me. Thanks so much Brenda and Bruce. It made the dinner that much more special. We really appreciated it.
For dinner, I had made reservations at the CN Tower months ago and was going to surprise Darcie with us going there but decided to spill the beans a while back. We were both really excited about going up and having a great dinner with an amazing view. I had been up once before the first time I passed through Toronto when i was playing with the Bozeman Icedogs so I remembered a little from then but Darcie had no idea what to expect. There's a deal where if you make reservations for dinner, the elevator ride up is free but you have to pay for one of their main courses which is fine if you're going up for dinner anyway. We got to the top and the view was obviously amazing. The restaurant rotates 360 degrees every hour so you don't just look at the same vantage point from your table while you're up there. Our food was so good. Darcie got a steak which melted in your mouth and I got a half order of chicken which was so flavorfull. The service and food was top notch. Food is expensive but you have to expect that with the experience you're getting. There's a cheaper restaurant down a level at the other viewing level where you can get a burger and fries type meal.
We went around just over 2 times and were lucky enough to see some lightning as well. It so cool being up there. We got up when it was still light and left when it was dark so we got to see the view in two totally different ways. There's an airport on the water for people who need to get downtown quicker and you can see them take off and land which is weird because the planes are so high in the sky and you're level with them. An interesting fact or two I remember reading up there was on a clear non humid day, you can apparently see the plume of water from Niagra Falls from the higher observation deck and you can see as far as 160km's away. After dinner, we went to the observation deck below us and because it was getting late it wasn't very busy. You can go outside at that level too so we did. Also, on the same level is where the floor has sections with glass in it so you can see down to the ground below you. They say it would support 16 fully grown rhino's but walking over them still gave us really queezy feelings. Last time up I laid on them but this time when I walked over one it would creak a little so I walked fast. I kept thinking it'd be ok but in the back of your mind you're thinking what if and at the same time you're mind is saying 'What the hell are you doing. You're going to kill us!!'
We'd love to go there with anyone that comes and visits if you're up for it.
My beautiful wife
Me in my nice new dress shirt
A view from our table, just passing the main downtown core. Eating a chocolate tower dessert.
For dinner, I had made reservations at the CN Tower months ago and was going to surprise Darcie with us going there but decided to spill the beans a while back. We were both really excited about going up and having a great dinner with an amazing view. I had been up once before the first time I passed through Toronto when i was playing with the Bozeman Icedogs so I remembered a little from then but Darcie had no idea what to expect. There's a deal where if you make reservations for dinner, the elevator ride up is free but you have to pay for one of their main courses which is fine if you're going up for dinner anyway. We got to the top and the view was obviously amazing. The restaurant rotates 360 degrees every hour so you don't just look at the same vantage point from your table while you're up there. Our food was so good. Darcie got a steak which melted in your mouth and I got a half order of chicken which was so flavorfull. The service and food was top notch. Food is expensive but you have to expect that with the experience you're getting. There's a cheaper restaurant down a level at the other viewing level where you can get a burger and fries type meal.
We went around just over 2 times and were lucky enough to see some lightning as well. It so cool being up there. We got up when it was still light and left when it was dark so we got to see the view in two totally different ways. There's an airport on the water for people who need to get downtown quicker and you can see them take off and land which is weird because the planes are so high in the sky and you're level with them. An interesting fact or two I remember reading up there was on a clear non humid day, you can apparently see the plume of water from Niagra Falls from the higher observation deck and you can see as far as 160km's away. After dinner, we went to the observation deck below us and because it was getting late it wasn't very busy. You can go outside at that level too so we did. Also, on the same level is where the floor has sections with glass in it so you can see down to the ground below you. They say it would support 16 fully grown rhino's but walking over them still gave us really queezy feelings. Last time up I laid on them but this time when I walked over one it would creak a little so I walked fast. I kept thinking it'd be ok but in the back of your mind you're thinking what if and at the same time you're mind is saying 'What the hell are you doing. You're going to kill us!!'
We'd love to go there with anyone that comes and visits if you're up for it.
My beautiful wife
Me in my nice new dress shirt
A view from our table, just passing the main downtown core. Eating a chocolate tower dessert.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Still weathering the winter storm!!
Just kidding. There's not really any snow here anymore - I was just kidding. So what have we been up to lately. Not much. Well that about does it for this entry. See you in another 4 months.
No I won't be that mean. Lots has happened since then. I'm on the lap top right now so i can't access some pics and vidoes of us playing Quelf. Also, I haven't burned our trip to Montreal or our 1 year anniversary onto a disc yet either so when thats done, I'll defenitely add those too. I'll have to make another entry this weekend. I promise it won't be another 4 months from now. Anyway, I'll try and load video and pictures of everything i have. in the mean time, try folding a piece of paper more than 7 times and enjoy some pictures of a project I've been very busing working on at work. It got shipped out today, finally, so its like a big weight's been lifted off my shoulders. Its a Dolce & Gabanna merchandise display for a duty free shop at one of the main border crossings in Ontario, near Sarnia, about two hours west of here. Ask Darcie how much time I've spent on it to get it done on time (it was a rush order). Last couple of days and last friday, I stayed at work till 10pm or later. Her and I are both glad its done so I can go back to living a normal life again. It turned out looking really nice in the end though. I was happy that it turned out looking good but I hate having to rush through jobs like this. In some of the pictures, you can see the top of the shelves are wood which will be coverd by black glass so you can't see the wood but the glass is being delivered seperate. I had to include pot lights on the bottom of each shelf, and lights within each shelf shining down on the one below it, as well as lights in the top shining through the name. Mom and dad, you guys say you never really know what i do at my job, well here's an example of one project i did. I helped in designing it, then came up with a parts list, making sure all the parts would fit and could be assembled together properly, programmed the cnc machine to cut the pcs out (the stainless steel pcs were outsourced), and fabricated it together, which took the longest part. I don't normally fabricate too many things at work but it was easier for me just to do it rather than go through everything with someone else. Anyway, next time you're passing through Sarnia, maybe stop at the Dolce & Gabanna area at the Duty Free shop and you'll see it.
I'll post again real soon with many more photos and hopefully video too. Love and miss you guys.
No I won't be that mean. Lots has happened since then. I'm on the lap top right now so i can't access some pics and vidoes of us playing Quelf. Also, I haven't burned our trip to Montreal or our 1 year anniversary onto a disc yet either so when thats done, I'll defenitely add those too. I'll have to make another entry this weekend. I promise it won't be another 4 months from now. Anyway, I'll try and load video and pictures of everything i have. in the mean time, try folding a piece of paper more than 7 times and enjoy some pictures of a project I've been very busing working on at work. It got shipped out today, finally, so its like a big weight's been lifted off my shoulders. Its a Dolce & Gabanna merchandise display for a duty free shop at one of the main border crossings in Ontario, near Sarnia, about two hours west of here. Ask Darcie how much time I've spent on it to get it done on time (it was a rush order). Last couple of days and last friday, I stayed at work till 10pm or later. Her and I are both glad its done so I can go back to living a normal life again. It turned out looking really nice in the end though. I was happy that it turned out looking good but I hate having to rush through jobs like this. In some of the pictures, you can see the top of the shelves are wood which will be coverd by black glass so you can't see the wood but the glass is being delivered seperate. I had to include pot lights on the bottom of each shelf, and lights within each shelf shining down on the one below it, as well as lights in the top shining through the name. Mom and dad, you guys say you never really know what i do at my job, well here's an example of one project i did. I helped in designing it, then came up with a parts list, making sure all the parts would fit and could be assembled together properly, programmed the cnc machine to cut the pcs out (the stainless steel pcs were outsourced), and fabricated it together, which took the longest part. I don't normally fabricate too many things at work but it was easier for me just to do it rather than go through everything with someone else. Anyway, next time you're passing through Sarnia, maybe stop at the Dolce & Gabanna area at the Duty Free shop and you'll see it.
I'll post again real soon with many more photos and hopefully video too. Love and miss you guys.
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